A crew was at work on Tuesday using a crane to remove the high steep-pitched roof from the building on Lakeway Drive at the entrance to Seven Lakes West, with trusses standing by for a new, lower-pitched top covering.

Building owner James Kirkpatrick told The Times that he plans to brick the exterior, updating the building's appearance.

MOR Group, one of the successor companies to original Seven Lakes developer Longleaf Inc., had the structure built as a sales office in 1984. It has been used by a succession of developers and Realtors in the years since.

Kirkpatrick has plans for a two-story professional office building on the cleared lot beside the former Welcome Center. That project has received a special non-residential intensity allowance from the county and a sedimentation and erosion control permit from the state, which allowed for the clearing of the tract.

But, according to the county Planning Department, the project awaits approvals of a septic or wastewater plan before it can move forward. An initial plan to use two residential lots on the opposite side of Lakeway Drive for septic fields ran afoul of Seven Lakes West Landowners Association rules and Westside covenants.

Kirkpatrick's company owns Seven Lakes Plaza Shopping Center, as well as a large inventory of lots within Seven Lakes West.